“Wow!!! This is dope, Kero. I love it, I love it!” is what will.i.am has to say about the Bay Area’s Rapper/producer/DJ Kero One’s Early Believers, out today. Three years after receiving Remix Magazine’s Best Hip Hop Album of 2006 award and collaborating with Talib Kweli and Mark Farina on his debut, Kero modulates from soulful jazz tinged tracks to upbeat synth-driven party bangers on his sophomore album.

Early Believers features some of his favorite vocalists such as Gilles Peterson protégé UK singer Ben Westbeech (“When The Sunshine Comes” and “Goodbye Forever”), Finland’s answer to modern soul, Tuomo (“Let’s Just Be Friends” and “Love and Happiness”) and Portland’s Ohmega Watts (“Stay On The Grind”) all showcasing Kero One’s growth and maturity as a writer, composer, vocalist and arranger. Enjoy a free download of the opening track to Early Believers, “Welcome To The Bay,” with Jacqueline Marie.